Hasina, Asaduzzaman ordered killing of anti-discrimination coordinators, Asif Mahmud testifies

Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, one of the key coordinators of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, has testified before the International Crimes Tribunal that “orders were issued to kill” the coordinators if they refused to call off the protests.

Now an advisor to the interim government, Asif told the tribunal that after he was picked up during the peak of the movement, he was informed that the orders had come from the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina and home minister Asaduzzaman Khan.

He testified on Thursday before Tribunal-1 as the 19th witness in the case of crimes against humanity related to the killing of six people in Chankharpul.

In his deposition, Asif detailed the chain of events from the movement that erupted in July and August 2024 to the eventual fall of the Awami League government.

He also recounted being “abducted and tortured” during that period.

Asif said on Jul 18 last year, during a nationwide “complete shutdown”, police, Awami League members, and activists from its affiliated organisations opened fire on protesters across the country, leaving at least 29 demonstrators dead.

Following the shootings, members of several intelligence agencies contacted the movement’s coordinators, urging them to withdraw the protests.

Despite this, the organisers decided to continue with the shutdown.

“On that day, with government support, key establishments were set on fire, and the blame was placed on the protesters. Multiple false cases were filed, and widespread raids began. The government also shut down internet access that night,” he told the tribunal.

According to him, on the night of Jul 19, plainclothes men identifying themselves as detective police “abducted” him from Niketan in Dhaka, forcing him into a microbus with “a black cap over his head”.

“They pressured me to record a video message announcing the withdrawal of the movement. When I refused, they injected me with something that made me lose consciousness. On the morning of the 24th of July, they dropped me back at the same location in Niketan,” he said.

He came to “recognise” his detention site as the “Ayna Ghor” torture chamber inside Dhaka Cantonment, which he had visited during an inspection after Aug 5, 2024.

After being released, Asif was admitted to Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital, where fellow coordinator Nahid Islam, now convenor of the NCP, was also admitted.

He said intelligence officers kept them under “close watch”, confiscated their phones, and cut off their communication.

“On the 26th of July, while receiving treatment at the hospital, Nahid, Abu Baker Mojumder, and I were taken to the DB office,” he added. “On the 27th, coordinators Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam were also brought there, and on the 28th, we saw coordinator Nusrat Tabassum there too.”

“We were repeatedly pressured to call off the movement. At one point, our family members were brought to the DB office and forced to record statements for the media claiming that we were safe,”

Asif testified that the then additional police commissioner Harunor Rashid and Ramna Zone deputy commissioner Humayun Kabir “threatened and pressured” them to withdraw the protest.

He said they were repeatedly told that “the former prime minister and home minister had ordered their abduction and were behind the pressure to call off the movement”.

"The instruction was clear -- if we refused to withdraw the movement, we were to be killed. They said they had spared our lives out of mercy.”

He added that DB personnel “forced” them to sign a written statement, read it out on camera, and circulated the video to the media.

The local government advisor held Hasina, Asaduzzaman, senior Awami League leaders, former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, and others “with commanding authority” responsible for the killings and atrocities carried out to suppress the movement.

“I believe the former prime minister and the home minister were primarily responsible for these actions,” he said. “On social media, I learned that Hasina herself had ordered the use of lethal weapons and gunfire from helicopters against protesters.”

“Later, we also learned that DMP commissioner Habibur had instructed his subordinates via wireless messages to open fire on protesters,” he added.